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Yoga truly is the shit. I despised it at first, but once I got good at it and noticed how much it was improving my strength and overall fitness, I got into it a bit more. My hip is still fucked, but I've gotten back into light yoga and see gains already.

This is really disappointing. All my life, I've not really had a problem with my legs or anything, but I would always take quite a wide stance and point my toes out (45 degrees or more) to be able to perform squats. My brother is a physical therapist, which is a really helpful resource because I live with him, and when I do a squat with a moderately closer stance (still more than shoulder width) and toes pointing out a little bit less, I can't even bring my quads close to parallel to the ground because I have no range of motion. He did some manipulations to try and loosen some muscles, recommended some stretching and specific isolation strength exercises to do to correct my insane muscle imbalance, as well has improve flexibility in my hips, hams, and calves. It's frustrating that my body literally can't do my most important exercise with proper form. O well, there's people that whine about their problems and there's people that stretch stretch stretch and focus on proper form until their problems disappear. I will be the latter

This is really disappointing. All my life, I've not really had a problem with my legs or anything, but I would always take quite a wide stance and point my toes out (45 degrees or more) to be able to perform squats. My brother is a physical therapist, which is a really helpful resource because I live with him, and when I do a squat with a moderately closer stance (still more than shoulder width) and toes pointing out a little bit less, I can't even bring my quads close to parallel to the ground because I have no range of motion. He did some manipulations to try and loosen some muscles, recommended some stretching and specific isolation strength exercises to do to correct my insane muscle imbalance, as well has improve flexibility in my hips, hams, and calves. It's frustrating that my body literally can't do my most important exercise with proper form. O well, there's people that whine about their problems and there's people that stretch stretch stretch and focus on proper form until their problems disappear. I will be the latter

the absolute most important part for improving flexibility/mobility is consistency (surprise! it's just like every other aspect of fitness). If you have serious issues with it, then it will take weeks and months to get to where you need to be. I have had issues with this in the past, because it's really really really easy to just skip stretching because it's boring and just go right into your lifts for the day, and even easier to skip stretching after lifting because you're wiped out. You need to stretch to have proper form on squats and deadlifts (and other exercises, rows especially), and you need to stretch consistently over a long period of time to get to where you need to be. Doing these lifts can help maintain flexibility, but they won't improve your flexibility if you don't already have it and are more likely to lead to injuries (I know this from experience).

To quote Jim Wendler:

My general rule is there’s a 1:1 ratio of time away/time spent. Meaning if I neglected my flexibility for 6 years, I should expect it to take 6 years of intensive work to bring it back to normal.

To expect anything more is ludicrous, like the overweight 35 year-old that gets frustrated he can’t undo 35 years of shitty eating and lack of exercise in 3 weeks. It doesn’t work that way.

If you’re a younger lifter, heed my warning – take 20 minutes/day to do static and dynamic stretches. Push a Prowler or do some “easy” cardio 3-4 days/week. The amount of time and effort to keep these things in balance is minimal, but the results will be extraordinary.

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it's not easy to get your flexibility to where it needs to be but you have to do it. I've been pretty consistent in the last month or so but I'm still definitely not where I need to be for flexibility.

Hey guys, I just started the couch to 5k plan and just finished the first week of workouts (yeah I'm that unfit :/) and noticed that by the last workout I wasn't sweating as much as the first one. Does this mean I'm not working hard enough? I ended up doing some sprints to finish because I didn't feel like I was doing it right :/

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Sorry, just reposting this since I had the same issue today and I'm sort of worried that I'm wasting my time

as a general rule for fitness, always strive to do better than you did last time, no matter what it is you're doing. If you lifted some weight for some amount of reps, lift more weight and/or more reps. If you ran a certain distance, run it faster or run a longer distance. If you're stretching or working on flexibility, aim for a greater range of motion or holding a stretch for longer. Stagnation is the first step to regression. Always aim for progression.

Hey guys, I just started the couch to 5k plan and just finished the first week of workouts (yeah I'm that unfit :/) and noticed that by the last workout I wasn't sweating as much as the first one. Does this mean I'm not working hard enough? I ended up doing some sprints to finish because I didn't feel like I was doing it right :/

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IMO that's just a sign that you're making gains. The first time I decided to run I was pouring sweat in seconds. It started to take me longer to start sweating as my body started getting more fit. It could also be due to the winter coming in. There's not as much of a need to cool down your body if it's cold outside or wherever you're exercising. I guess it could also be due to different amounts of water in your body. You should always make sure to drink a lot of water.

one thing to keep in mind with yoga is that there are some positions that can stretch out the lower back, and that's generally not something a lifter would want. Many lifts require lower back stability, and very few if any require lower back flexibility. Lifts like Squat, Deadlift, Rows, and Presses would all suffer (or in the very best case scenario, not benefit at all) from stretching the lower back.

Thank you for the encouragement about my flexibility guys, that video will be really helpful to me.

Personal record I wanted to make that is totally unrelated to the thread at hand(Move your mouse to reveal the content)Personal record I wanted to make that is totally unrelated to the thread at hand (open)Personal record I wanted to make that is totally unrelated to the thread at hand (close)

Also, just because I want to make a permanent record about this on the internet somewhere (but totally unrelated): I just came back from a first date with a girl. I would normally have never traveled as far as I did (2 hours drive, one way) for some random date with a random girl, that I met on the internet no less. But, she had a really awesome online profile, and what little communication I had with her, I thought her demeanor, attitude, and intelligence were awesome so I really wanted to meet her. I was prepared to fucking blow it like some other dates I've been on, but it went amazingly. I don't wanna blow it out of proportion, because I'm sure that people go on great dates and it crashes and burns; but I've literally just met a girl who I've gotten along with instantly pretty much better than anyone I've ever met. As in, I couldn't hope to meet someone who "checks all my boxes" exactly like she does in 10 or 50 years. Yes, I know I'm the type of guy to jump the gun too soon on this sort of stuff, so I'm trying really hard to be objective, and let things play out more naturally. But I needed to get this off my chest. I really hope things go well with her, and I want to keep this as a personal record (much in the same vein as workout logs?) to look back on 3 months or a year from now and see how things developed and reflect. It's all part of the journey, but if this girl winds up being part of my life in a real way, a) I wouldn't be surprised, and b) I'd be happy, thrilled, satisfied in the deepest sort of way. I already know she is incredible, so I have my fingers crossed.

So I have compartment syndrome in both my legs and my feet and I had two surgeries for them. The legs feel quite a bit better in everyday activity and in walking on the treadmill, but if I start running then I begin to feel intense pain again. My feet have also improved, but I still see quite a bit of pain in them on a day to day basis. For example, if I am late for class and walking a bit faster than normal, I get quite a bit of pain. Also, if I bring my laptop to school or I am carrying a lot of books, my feet start hurting almost instantly.

I guess my question is for a person with those conditions who wants to lose some weight, (in addition to diet) what kinds of exercise would be best? I can bike with little to no pain in the feet or legs, but for some reason get tremendous pain in my knees. I can swim with little to no pain in the legs or feet, but my arms begin to hurt after only 50 meters. Lastly, doing walking on the treadmill is ok, as long as I don't go too fast.

Any tips you could give would be great.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I mentioned that my arms begin to hurt after 50 meters of swimming. I swam from 5-15 years old, and never had that problem. My surgeons suspect I got compartment syndrome from swimming. I was wondering if it is also possible I got compartment syndrome in my arms? It is harder to tell because I don't use them as much as I use my feet, but some things that are painful:

Raising my hand in class, drying my hair, other activities that involve raising the arms. Specifically, the pain is in my upper arms, between the elbow and shoulder for both arms.

My parents just think it is because I am out of shape, but I never noticed this problem until the past few years. It is a bit concerning to me because I really would like to swim again but it just isn't feasible with that kind of arm pain.

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in general if youre wondering "i have x condition what can i do" the answer is gonna be yoga; one of the teachers at my school even learned to walk again after years of being unable to by doing yoga (note he weighed >300 pounds at the time)

of course i dont know if yoga is right for your particular condition, but i haven't seen anything about it being bad for compartment syndrome so uh give it a try i guess?

oh and it looks like one of the most common places for the syndrome is the forearm and upper arm so it's entirely possible... maybe ask a doctor

So I have compartment syndrome in both my legs and my feet and I had two surgeries for them. The legs feel quite a bit better in everyday activity and in walking on the treadmill, but if I start running then I begin to feel intense pain again. My feet have also improved, but I still see quite a bit of pain in them on a day to day basis. For example, if I am late for class and walking a bit faster than normal, I get quite a bit of pain. Also, if I bring my laptop to school or I am carrying a lot of books, my feet start hurting almost instantly.

I guess my question is for a person with those conditions who wants to lose some weight, (in addition to diet) what kinds of exercise would be best? I can bike with little to no pain in the feet or legs, but for some reason get tremendous pain in my knees. I can swim with little to no pain in the legs or feet, but my arms begin to hurt after only 50 meters. Lastly, doing walking on the treadmill is ok, as long as I don't go too fast.

Any tips you could give would be great.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I mentioned that my arms begin to hurt after 50 meters of swimming. I swam from 5-15 years old, and never had that problem. My surgeons suspect I got compartment syndrome from swimming. I was wondering if it is also possible I got compartment syndrome in my arms? It is harder to tell because I don't use them as much as I use my feet, but some things that are painful:

Raising my hand in class, drying my hair, other activities that involve raising the arms. Specifically, the pain is in my upper arms, between the elbow and shoulder for both arms.

My parents just think it is because I am out of shape, but I never noticed this problem until the past few years. It is a bit concerning to me because I really would like to swim again but it just isn't feasible with that kind of arm pain.

Thanks everybody

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losing weight is nearly entirely diet. what you need to do is track everything you eat calorie-wise (myfitnesspal is great for this, there is an android/ios app). find out what your maintenance level is (like 2k/day from what you describe yourself), and eat X under that to lose weight. 3500 calories is equal to 1 lb, so if you want to lose a pound per week, eat 500 under. it can be kind of tough, but the main thing here is making your calories count: that means no grazing, no soda, and finding meals that you enjoy that also fill you up and are low calorie. plenty of resources for stuff like that.

it definitely takes commitment! a bit of cheating is good now and then if you have the willpower not to relapse. exercise is not necessary at all to lose weight. yes, it's extremely good for your bones + muscles + everythingever, but if you're in pain you may want to see whether it's your weight causing it (but probably go to a doctor if you have issues raising your hand in class)

as for my request: how do i get faster besides upping mileage? i have been running about 20 miles/week for the past 3 1/2 months, but i've plateaued recently. i'm going with the +10%/week for mileage, but are there specific things i can do with my miles to give me a leg up (hills, intervals, timed runs...?).

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as for my request: how do i get faster besides upping mileage? i have been running about 20 miles/week for the past 3 1/2 months, but i've plateaued recently. i'm going with the +10%/week for mileage, but are there specific things i can do with my miles to give me a leg up (hills, intervals, timed runs...?).

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either 20 miles a week will get you nowhere or i am just doing everything wrong...

anyway, you should definitely work on some faster stuff. After you do your longer runs, try running some 150-200m runs. Not full-on sprints (though if you can handle that, cool), just make sure you have a loose stride and good turnover. Also, once a week at least, though twice is preferable (or even more if you're doing this to really get "fast" and not to be in shape), instead of going for a jog, do a short little warm-up–probably a half-mile to mile, judging by your daily mileage–and then do something in the ballpark of five or six balls-to-the-wall 400m dashes.

I'd recommend seeing a doctor about all of those things. I don't really think your parents or anyone here for that matter are qualified to make judgment calls on what could be a potentially serious condition. That said, eating properly on a deficit combined with exercise that doesn't cause a lot of pain is what I would recommend. When you get more information on what's going on with your injuries, then I think I and others can recommend more things that you can do.